izigame.me

Putting it as simply as possible, this game is just fun.
I love games that embrace a more surreal nature, as it brings an additional level of intrigue to the experience. I think this is especially great for puzzle games, as the constant shifting and subversion of expectations really keeps you on your toes and keeps you engaged throughout the entire game.
When I first discovered this game I was so excited to play it, because the puzzle mechanic being perspective-based was just so unique to me.
The premise of the game is that you are asleep at a sleep therapy clinic, experiencing dreams. This opens up a lot of possibility for the setting of the game to change and I think they utilise the premise perfectly.
I was very quick to notice on startup that it looks very well polished. For something that was made by a small team, it looks very well put together.
A little further in, the narration kicks in and you start to get a feel for what is going on here. I did find it a bit strange that the trailers for this game don’t show any of the narration at all, so in honesty I wasn’t 100% expecting it.
If i’m completely honest, I found the narrative just okay. It’s nothing amazing, and I found it a little cheesy at times. It isn’t bad, It’s just okay. I could see what they were going for, but it was a little monotone until the very end so I guess I didn’t find myself all that engaged with it.
There are two main characters,
The “Standard Orientation Protocol”, the automated voice that leads people through their therapy. They drop a few lines that give it this “cold hearted computer” thing, but I found that I didn’t really care about this character at all.
Then there’s the narrator Dr. Glenn Pierce, who chimes in every now and then from (I assume) the real world. He talks in this very slow and calm voice which I assume mimics meditative audios and that kind of thing. I could see that this was perhaps supposed to get funnier as things progress and he essentially starts telling you that you’re trapped in there and your life is falling apart in this very chill way, but this fell a bit flat for me.
In general there was dialogue in the game that felt like it was written to be humorous that I recognised as such, but for me personally the comedy element did just fall a bit flat overall. In my head i’d think “ah, a joke” but I’m not sure I actually reacted at all. Something I did enjoy, that did make me at least smile, was finding a banana hidden in a level that bounced around and spins itself to the ground. That within itself shows i’m not above cheap/mediocre comedy, but for some unknown reason this game just didn’t really hit for me in the comedy department. It might for you, though!
Despite the above, which I know sounds extremely negative, I honestly didn’t mind feeling so neutral to the narrative because for me the artistry and creativity of this game, and the fun I was having playing through it, more than made up for it ten times over. Some of the puzzles are so creative that moving along to the next area, I couldn’t help but be a little excited for whatever might be next.
One part just randomly gets a little spooky for a bit and I genuinely didn’t expect to be made to jump by the cheeky lure of a door left ajar.
After my first playthrough I peaked at the achievements and saw there was a lot of missed ones, one of which involved a speedrun. “Oh hell no”, I thought. There was a lot, but despite it seeming like too much work I decided to just try and get as many as possible. I won’t talk about all of them, obviously, but i’ll touch on some of them as they are content related. Some are simple and obvious, and others are a bigger task.
I first attempted the challenge mode for the associated achievement, thinking I was going to give up before long. It actually wasn’t that bad though and I found it quite fun. The challenges are along the lines of “do this level only touching something X amount of times and jumping Y amount of times”. If you enjoyed the game and want that bit of extra challenge definitely give it a go.
I then played through again looking for collectables (of which there are a LOT). I didn’t find many on my first playthrough so you have to really look for them. This part was a bit tedious, and you might find you need to peak at a guide to collect them all.
There are also fire alarms and fire extinguishers you need to interact with throughout the game for a few achievements. There is a lot of them and trying to find these gets you playing the game in a very OCD-like way. You need to check behind every door, in any corner, everywhere. I found most of these on my first playthrough because I check things really thoroughly when I play games, but It still took me accessing secret areas (near other collectables) and playing through a few times to actually find them all. They are annoying achievements, but admittedly it was very satisfying once they finally popped up.
Next, the speedrun. I was not confident with this at all, I hate speedrun achievements and this game is actually something proper speedrunners play, so I figured if it was an unattainable time for an average person I was just going to leave this game nearly completed.
The speedrun time is under 30 minutes. Completing the challenge mode actually teaches you some ways to solve puzzles efficiently, so definitely do that before any attempt.
My first try I was 3 minutes over. This kind of confirmed in my head this was possible for average people. I watched a speedrun, tried again and failed by 1 minute. The third time I tried, and I got the achievement with only 5 seconds to spare.
Finally, I saved the achievement for playing with developer commentary for last for a more chilled out end.
There were some fun insights here. For example, a member of the team praises the narrator for having smashed the “mixed up” voice line (where the words are out of order but the tone of the sentence is consistent) out of the park on the first try. I genuinely assumed that was impossible to do and that they had him say sentences and spliced the “mixed up” one together from the pieces. It was also interesting to hear about the game design. It of course went straight over my head, but it was interesting nonetheless. If you are interested in game design I think you’d enjoy a playthrough with the commentary.
At this point i’d played through the game so many times. I honestly thought I would be more bothered at this point by having to replay the whole thing so many times over. I would usually get bored but I think because it is a fairly fast-paced illusion/maze once you know what you’re doing, it didn’t bother me. I thought trying to 100% this game would frustrate me and be a pain but I actually found it quite rewarding. By the time I was done I was glad I did it and just thought to myself “well, that was fun!”.
I definitely recommend this game. I don’t have actual rankings, but if I did I think this game would be in the top 5 first-person puzzle games for me. If they made a sequel to this game I would most definitely play it.

Achievements: Included
There is a lot of missable ones, and 100%ing isn’t that straightforward. You need to collect a lot of hidden collectables, do a speedrun in under 30 minutes, complete the challenge mode, do a few workshop related achievements and complete the game with developer commentary enabled, among some random ones.
For more reviews of this genre, check out my curator page The Best: First-Person Puzzle Games